The Key to Nowhere
by Enthusiastic Fish
Summary: Things start to get weird for Tim when time passes without his knowing it and he begins appearing in random places with no memory of how he got there. Then, it really gets bad. Six chapters. Will post one per day.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I noticed that I have written a horror story around Halloween nearly every year since I started writing fanfiction. So I decided to do it again. This one isn't very long and isn't the typical gory, boo-scare horror that I don't like. However, I'm also pretty wimpy when it comes to scary stories; so you may not find it very horrific. :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own NCIS or its characters. They're just forced to bear the brunt of my writing. :)

* * *

><p><strong>The Key to Nowhere<br>**by Enthusiastic Fish

**Chapter 1**

_Nowhere..._

_Help me! Let me out!_

_He pounded on the invisible walls, trying to ignore the gleeful laughter._

_No one can hear you! You're with us, now!_

_NO! NO!_

_Stay with us!_

_He could see all the hands reaching out to him. Just the hands. He didn't want to see the eyes. Not again._

_He pounded on the wall that didn't exist, shouting through it to the people he could see, to the world he could see._

_To reality._

_HELP ME!_

_The hands pulled at him. He was overwhelmed. He was dragged further and further away from that wall._

_He was nowhere._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Somewhere..._

_He had gone too far. It was unacceptable. She saw where he was going next and followed. _

_She would not sit back and wait this time._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Washington, D.C._

There was a knock on the door, and Tim woke up with a start.

"I'm coming!" he called out.

He jumped out of bed and ran for the door. He looked through the peephole and couldn't see anyone. Quickly, he unlocked the door and opened it.

He looked around and then, he looked down.

There was a key on the floor in front of his door.

He bent over and picked it up.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

...and suddenly, Tim skidded to a stop, looking around himself.

"Where..."

He looked down at himself. Instead of his pajamas, i.e. boxer shorts and t-shirt, he was wearing his running clothes. Shoes and all.

He looked back up and realized that he didn't even know where he was.

There were trees. Lots of trees. He couldn't see the sun. He could be anywhere so far as he knew. He didn't know what time it was...except that it was daytime.

Then, he saw a runner coming into view. Trying not to sound as panicked as he felt, he flagged the man down.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi."

"Hey...I have a weird question to ask you, but I'm suddenly really turned around. Uh..." Tim hesitated. He didn't want to admit that he didn't even know where he was. He forced a smile. "Could you point me toward civilization?"

The man laughed, although it was clear he thought this was a little strange.

"Well, Silver Spring is that way," he said pointing to the left. "DC is south. Anything else you need?"

Tim forced himself to laugh.

"Nope. Thanks."

The man continued his run with only one look back. Tim swallowed and starting running. ...again? He had no memory of running. No memory of putting on his running clothes. He didn't even know what time it was.

He just hoped that, when he got out of the trees, he'd be reoriented.

He got to the edge...

...of Rock Creek Park. He knew where he was and where to go to get home.

Thank goodness. He got home as fast as he could and went inside.

...and found that he'd missed four calls from Tony, two from Ellie and one from Gibbs himself.

Uh oh.

He looked at the time and groaned.

It was ten a.m. He was _very_ late. What had happened to the time?

He got ready in record time and ran out the door, calling Tony as he did.

"_McGee, you are in deep doodoo if you don't have a good reason for being this late."_

"I don't have a good reason. In fact, I can't even explain why I'm late, Tony."

"_What do you mean you can't explain? I mean, Gibbs won't care why, but you should at least have an idea of what you _would_ say if he let you."_

"I can't explain it, Tony. It's the strangest thing. I think that..."

"_Don't think. You just need to have something to say. Gibbs is very not happy. I must have called you a million times."_

"Yeah. Okay."

"_You don't sound nearly worried enough, Tim."_

"I'm worried."

"_You'd better be ready to grovel."_

"Yeah. Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Tim wasn't sure why he wasn't telling Tony about his lost time, about suddenly being in Rock Creek Park. He just didn't have the words to explain what he had felt. So he hung up and focused on the road...more or less.

What was the last thing he remembered?

Oh, yeah. That key on the floor after someone knocked on his door. It had been a strange-looking key.

Tim drove as quickly as he dared to NCIS. When he got there, he was worried about going inside. Hours late. A weird dislocation. Strangeness all around...and he didn't want to have Gibbs glaring at him.

Still, there was no sense in putting off the inevitable. It would only make things worse. He went up to the bullpen.

_Thwack!_

"You do not set your own hours, McGee," Gibbs said.

Tim rubbed at his head.

"I know, Boss."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and Tim knew he would be on the receiving end of the more unpleasant tasks for the next few days.

"A Marine has gone missing. He vanished without a trace. You think you could handle figuring out where he's been?"

Knowing the answer was expected to be yes, Tim nodded. Gibbs wasted no more time. He gestured to Ellie and Tony.

Ellie looked at him and mouthed _yikes_, sympathetically. Tim smiled weakly. Tony walked over to Tim's desk and handed a few pieces of paper to him. Tim looked and saw the information to get him started, information that Gibbs would expect Tim to conjure up out of nowhere.

_Thank you_, he mouthed at Tony.

Tony just smiled and left. Tim got to work on building a pattern for PFC Caleb Johnson who had inexplicably vanished during his leave and had not reported back.

Nothing came up as strange. He had made phone calls to people who must be friends. He had spent money at normal stores in and around Norfolk and DC.

...and then, there _was_ one discrepancy. Tim leaned forward and double-checked the credit card purchase.

"New York? How did he get there?" Tim asked himself.

There was a charge for gas in Norfolk and then, a car rental in upstate New York and gas purchases in a couple of towns. It was only three days before his disappearance. It was weird. It didn't make any sense. Sure, he could have had a ride, but why? He wasn't from the area. Nothing in his history indicated any reason to go up there. It was so bizarre.

He got up to see if Tony had anything else on his desk that Tim could look through to help him with figuring all this out.

As he did, he felt something in his pocket and reached in to see what it was.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Don't come in here! Stay away! They'll get you, too! Go away! Go away!_

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Agent McGee, is there anything I can do for you?"

Tim looked around and realized that he was standing in front of Vance's assistant's desk, but it wasn't Pamela who had asked him the question. It was Vance himself. Pamela wasn't at her desk.

"Agent McGee?"

"Uh...no, Director."

Tim looked at his hands. He was holding files, but he had no idea what they were or why he had them. He looked surreptitiously at his watch and saw that he had lost another 20 minutes.

"Well, Pamela isn't in, today. She had to stay home with her son. Anything you have for her will have to wait until tomorrow."

Tim seized on the out and nodded.

"Thanks, Director. I'll...see her, tomorrow...then."

Vance looked at him curiously. "Are you all right, Agent McGee? You seem a little confused."

"I'm fine! No problem, Director Vance."

Tim turned and hurried out to the balcony, down the stairs and to his desk.

He opened the files...and then, he closed them very quickly. He didn't know what they were. They didn't have anything to do with PFC Johnson. He didn't know where they'd come from. He shoved them into his desk and called Tony.

"_What's up, McGee?"_

"Something weird."

"_I meant with the case, Tim."_

Tim grimaced.

"That's what I meant, too."

"_Is it weird enough to get you back in Gibbs' good graces?"_

"Maybe."

"_Okay. What?"_

"PFC Johnson rented a car in upstate New York only a few hours after buying gas in DC. Not sure how he got up there."

"_You sure it was him and not just his card?"_

"No, but he bought gas a couple of times on a track that would take him back to DC. He also made a couple of phone calls on the way."

"_Okay. That is weird. I'll pass the word along. Maybe you'll survive the day."_

Tim grimaced again. "Yeah. Maybe."

He hung up and decided that he needed to tell someone about this. Ducky would be able to tell him if it was serious or not, if it meant anything.

Decision made, he got up and headed for the elevator.

He made it to Autopsy without any problem. Thank goodness.

"Ducky?" he asked, sticking his head inside the door.

"Yes, Timothy? Was there something Jethro wanted me to do?"

"Uh...no. I have...a question for you."

Ducky looked at him with some interest as he set down one of his tools.

"I take it this is not a professional question?"

"No, it's not...but I'm already in trouble with Gibbs; so I can't take long."

"Very well. What is it?"

"I..." Tim stopped. Now that the moment was there, he wasn't sure he really wanted to try to explain it. "Maybe... Maybe it's a bad idea. I should just..."

He started to turn around, but Ducky stopped him.

"Timothy, you seem upset. What is it, lad?"

"I woke up this morning because someone was knocking on the door. I went to the door and opened it. ...and then, it was... I was in the middle of Rock Creek Park in my running clothes. Oh, and it was...hours later."

"You had a blackout?"

"I don't know! I didn't feel any time passing. I was one place and then, I was another place. Hours later."

"You didn't tell Gibbs that?"

"I was hours late for work, Ducky. Do you really think that he let me say anything?"

Ducky smiled a little, but he was clearly concerned.

"I suppose not, but Timothy, this is not a simple thing. It could be dangerous for you to lose track of time like that."

"I know. That's why I was asking you about it."

"All right. When Jethro gets back, I will talk to him, but if you have any more of these episodes, you need to let people know...and regardless, you should have a brain scan. You didn't drink heavily last night, did you?"

"No. I _never_ drink heavily."

"I wouldn't guess you would, but I've been wrong about things before."

"Okay."

"Timothy, you will need to tell Jethro about it. If this wasn't an isolated incident..."

"Okay."

Tim left Autopsy and hurried back up to the bullpen. He didn't want to get in more trouble.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Nowhere..._

_HELP ME! GET ME OUT OF HERE!_

_There is no escape! You are here with us! You'll never leave. You won't want to leave!_

_He freed himself from the hands and ran for the wall again. He pounded on it, trying to get free. He couldn't._

_HELP!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As he waited for the team to get back, Tim thought about how in the world he'd explain himself to Gibbs without sounding like he was just trying to get out of trouble. He also called his doctor and asked to have an MRI or CT scan or something just to make sure there was nothing wrong with his brain. His doctor was as concerned as Ducky had been.

Funny, but Tim wasn't as worried about the actual event. He was worried about missing work, about getting lost and feeling stupid. He supposed he should be more worried about missing time, but he wasn't.

To distract himself, he looked at PFC Johnson's phone records again. He had traveled a lot during his leave. From Norfolk to DC, back to Norfolk, back to DC, to Suffolk, to Baltimore, and a number of places in between. Tim wasn't much of a traveler in the normal course of things. He would do it if it were necessary, but just driving? No. Not for him.

Then, he noticed that PFC Johnson had called a doctor in DC. It wasn't the doctor listed in his records. There was also a call that was to some person described as an occultist. That was also interesting. Maybe PFC Johnson was a believer in some of that hokum stuff.

That would be something else to check out, but, of course, he had to wait for Gibbs to get back. Tim let his mind wander idly over his last incident...which he hadn't told Ducky about. Another twenty minutes. But why only that much time? He wondered about that. The first time had been a few hours. The second, only a few minutes.

There was that key. It was in his pocket, but how had it gotten there? Tim knew he hadn't put it there.

"Or did I?" he asked himself.

"Did you what, Probie?"

"Oh, nothing." Tim looked up and saw the others were back.

Gibbs still looked a bit miffed, and Tim wasn't sure he dared try this. ...but he should say _something_...if only because Ducky would definitely talk to Gibbs about it and then, it would look bad that Tim hadn't said anything before. He stood up.

"Boss...could I talk to you for a minute?"

Gibbs' eyebrow went up in a mute question.

"In private?"

"About?"

"Please, Boss?" Tim asked.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and gestured. Tim nodded and followed after as quickly as he could. Gibbs didn't bother with the elevator. He just walked into the hallway and then turned around.

"What?" he asked, flatly.

"I wanted to explain why I was late."

"You think I care what your excuse is?"

"Not necessarily, but...Ducky thought I should tell you."

The eyebrow went up again.

"Ducky?"

"Yeah...I lost some time this morning."

"Lost time?"

"I was in my apartment and then, it was three hours later and I was running in Rock Creek Park. I don't remember anything happening. I don't know how I got there."

The eyebrow threatened to leap off Gibbs' forehead.

"Really, Boss. I can't explain what happened, but I asked Ducky about it and he thought I should tell you."

Tim was pretty sure he'd managed to surprise Gibbs at least a little bit.

"Are you feeling all right?"

That was the _last_ question Tim had expected. He hadn't expected concern. He swallowed.

"Yeah, Boss. I feel fine. I just can't explain what happened better than that."

Gibbs was silent for a few seconds.

"You know what this means?"

"You're not going to trust me in the field, right?"

Gibbs nodded.

"Even if it was just a fluke?"

"Then, show me it was a fluke."

"Right. I called my doctor. They're going to do a scan."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. They said I was lucky they had an opening."

Gibbs nodded and then, it was clear that the meeting was over. He walked back to the bullpen and began going over what they'd found.

Tim contributed as he could, and then, he remembered what he'd found just before they got back.

"Oh, and PFC Johnson called a doctor and a self-described occultist in DC the day after he got back to DC. It's not his listed physician, and I don't know if he was into the occult."

"Names," Gibbs said.

Tim looked at his screen. "Uh...a Dr. Tricia Garson. She's a neurologist. And the occultist is...Jason Schicksal."

"Nice pronunciation, McGee," Tony said.

Tim smiled. "Never seen the name before, Tony."

"Give Tony and Ellie the addresses. Go and find out what he wanted."

"Uh...Boss...maybe..." Tony started, with glances at Tim.

"Did I give you the impression that this was a discussion, DiNozzo?"

"No, Boss. Let's go, Probie," he said.

Ellie grabbed her stuff and followed him out.

As soon as they were gone, Gibbs looked at Tim.

"What do you want me to do now, Boss?"

"I want you to take this stuff to Abby so she can process it."

Tim nodded and grabbed the evidence bags. He went to the elevator and got on to fulfill the menial errand. He shifted the bags to his arms and then, they slipped. He knelt down to pick them up and something metallic fell to the floor.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim lost his balance and toppled over the hedge.

He lay there, stunned, for a few seconds. Then, he heard a voice.

"Young man, are you all right?"

Tim wasn't sure he wanted to answer for a moment. He lay, staring up at the sky until an old face appeared over his head.

"You seem to have taken quite the tumble. Are you all right?"

"I think so," Tim said.

He was almost afraid to see where he was, now...since he was definitely _not_ in Abby's lab.

"Can I help you up?"

"Um...I can do it."

Tim disentangled his legs from the bush and got to his feet, brushing off his clothes. Thankfully, they were the same ones he'd put on this morning. No indication that he'd changed.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

Tim barely acknowledged the old man, trying to get his attention.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

He looked around and realized that he, again, had no idea where he was. He looked at his watch.

_Oh, no. Another two hours. Gibbs is going to kill me!_

"It's not every day I walk around the corner and see someone your age lying on the ground."

"Yeah."

Then, another horrible thought struck him.

_Did I get the evidence bags to Abby?_

He definitely wasn't holding them, now.

"Sir? You don't seem all right. Maybe you hit your head when you fell."

"No. I'm fine. Thank you."

Tim started walking, not paying any attention.

He didn't know where he was, but he figured that he'd find his location if he could just get to a street corner and see the sign. He didn't want to embarrass himself by asking where he was again.

He got to a corner and looked around. Nothing was familiar. Not at all.

_Where am I?_

"Coventry Way. Old Branch Avenue."

Tim didn't recognize either of those streets...but wait. Old Branch. That might be familiar.

"Oh, man."

"Young man, are you sure you're all right?"

Tim looked behind him and saw the old man.

"I'm fine."

"I'm not sure I believe you."

Tim smiled a little.

"Are you on something?"

Tim laughed.

"Oh, if only I was."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"No. I'm not taking anything. I'm not on drugs. I'm not drunk. I'm just a little confused is all. Otherwise, I'm totally fine."

"What are you confused about?"

Tim smiled at the old man's persistence.

"Where I am, if you really want to know."

"You don't know where you are?"

"Beyond that I'm pretty sure I've heard of Old Branch Avenue before, I can't tell you anything about where I am."

"You're south of Andrews."

"Clinton?"

"More or less."

"Not far, then. That's something."

Tim pulled out his phone and then, he stopped. What would Gibbs say?

"You know, I should tell you that I called the police already."

"You what?"

Tim turned back.

"You were acting like you might be a little crazy, if you don't mind my saying so."

"I guess I don't mind, but..." Tim groaned. This was just getting better. "Well, I should probably call my boss, anyway. He's already going to kill me for leaving work."

The man smiled.

"You don't know where you are and you're worried about getting in trouble at work? I think your priorities might be skewed."

"You don't know my boss." Tim grimaced and dialed.

"_McGee! Where are you?"_

Tim winced. Gibbs sounded irritated.

"I'm...south of Andrews."

"_Why?"_

"I...don't know, Boss."

"_You don't know?"_

"I was going down to the lab and then, I was here."

_"What about the evidence?"_

"Uh...I don't have it."

"_You lost the evidence."_

Tim winced again and closed his eyes.

"So...I didn't get down there, then."

"_You lost everything we'd collected at the crime scene."_

"Yes?"

"_McGee...you need to figure this out. You're not working until you can tell me that this is over."_

"Yes, Boss."

"_Are you all right?"_

"Yeah."

"_Then, go to your doctor or go home. Don't come back here unless you find the evidence you lost."_

"Yes, Boss."

Gibbs hung up. Tim couldn't blame him for being upset. He might have made it impossible for them to find the missing Marine.

A police car pulled up by the side of the road and Tim plastered a smile on his face as two officers got out and approached them.

"You're the one who called?" one asked.

"I called," the old man said. "He seems okay, now."

"My name is Tim McGee. I work for NCIS. Here's my ID," Tim said, hoping to forestall any further questions.

The officer took Tim's ID and badge and looked at them closely. Then, he looked at Tim.

"You sure that you're all right, Agent McGee?"

"I'm fine. Thank you."

"All right. You're not causing a disturbance; so we won't have to book you."

The officer grinned and Tim smiled back. The two policemen got into their car and drove off.

"I'm sorry about that."

Tim turned back to the old man.

"Don't worry about it. I figure that it's better to have someone worrying when there's no problem than to have them not caring when there is one. I don't suppose you saw me trip?"

"Nope. Sorry. I only saw the aftermath."

Tim smiled.

"All right. Thanks."

The man shook his hand and headed off.

It was only after he was alone that Tim let his smile slip.

_I lost evidence!_

The problem was that he couldn't even say that he had any idea of how he had got here. There was no way to track anything. It wasn't even that there was a fuzziness. It was that his mind went from in the elevator to falling on his back.

_Gibbs is going to kill me for losing evidence._

"McGee!"

Tim turned around and there was Gibbs, leaning out of his car.

"Get in, McGee."

Tim swallowed and walked over.

"I'm so sorry, Boss. I wish I could say that I knew what was going on, but..."

"Get in."

Tim nodded.

"Are you telling me everything?"

Tim nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Then, I'll take you home. Tony is driving your car back to your place."

"Okay. Thanks."

Tim stared out the windshield.

"You're not hiding anything?"

"I wish I was, Boss. Then, I could explain this. I'm so sorry about the evidence bags. I... If we can't find him because of that..."

"We'll deal with it."

Tim looked over at Gibbs. Had he been replaced with a bodysnatcher? He saw Gibbs smile a little.

"Don't get used to that."

"I wouldn't dare," Tim said with a little smile himself.

"Good."

Gibbs drove him home without any more conversation. Then, Tim went inside.

He sat down at his computer and wondered what had happened today. Was the whole world coming down around his ears? Or was he going crazy?

...and why wasn't he more worried about it?

He sighed and went into his bedroom. He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_It was getting harder to resist. He was so tired._

_But he could still see the world on the other side of the wall._

_HELP ME! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME IN HERE! HELP!_

_You're not in anywhere. You're nowhere and that's where you'll stay!_

_NO! NO!_

_You're mine! You won't resist forever! No one does._

_He reached out for the wall. There had to be a way out._

_No way out. Never. You'll never get away._

_HELP ME!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tim didn't sleep well that night. He kept thinking about PFC Johnson. What if they never found him because of Tim's lapse? What if that evidence had something key to figuring out where he was?

What if? What if?

All in all, Tim was not well-rested when the sun finally peeked into his bedroom. But he got up and went through his usual routine, not really thinking much about it. In fact, his routine got him all the way out to his car before he remembered that he wasn't going to work. He was supposed to be getting a scan of his brain today. Right. Well, he could just get to hospital early. That would be fine. He got in his car and started driving.

He'd only gone a few blocks when his phone rang. He answered.

"Hello?"

"_McGee, Gibbs told us that you weren't coming in to work today. What happened?"_

"Uh...I've had a couple of times when I lost some time and...and I lost the evidence yesterday."

"_How?"_

"I don't know. I was going to the lab, but I was suddenly in Clinton...without it."

"_Man, Tim... Are you sure you're okay?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm getting a brain scan, today, though. My doctor thought it was a good idea."

There was a flash of light in his eyes. Not just a glint of sun. It was like a nuclear bomb went off in his face. Tim was completely blind. He slammed on his brakes and tried to ease his car over to the side of the road...without being able to see it.

_GET ME OUT! HELP ME!_

In the midst of his blindness, Tim saw a man, reaching out to him. He could only see the shape, not the details.

_DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE!_

Finally, the blinding light began to fade and Tim became conscious of sound again.

That sound was in the form of Tony's shouting.

"_McGee!"_

"Yeah?" Tim asked.

"_What in the world just happened?"_

"Um...I'm not sure. Why?"

"_Because you were screaming for help. I told Gibbs to get Abby to trace your location."_

"I wasn't screaming for help."

"_Yeah, you were, Probie. I thought you were dying."_

"I'm fine."

"_No, you're not. Not if you're screaming and can't even remember it."_

"Really, Tony. I'm fine. I'll just keep going to the hospital. That's where I was headed, anyway."

"_Wait...you were driving?"_

"Yeah."

"_You're having blackouts and you thought it was okay to _drive_?"_

"Um...yes?" Now that Tony had mentioned it, that didn't seem very smart.

"_McGee, you are not driving! I'm going to come and get you myself."_

"I'll take a taxi."

"_No, you won't. Tell me where you are."_

"It's really not that far, Tony. It'll take you longer to get here than it would for me to get to the hospital myself."

"_Tell me where you are, Tim."_

Tim sighed and gave the address. He, then, promised that he would wait there for Tony to come.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"You have something of mine."

Tim turned around. He was not in his car. He was in a dark, closed-in space. He couldn't see any details of the space. Was it a large room? A tiny hole in the ground? He had no idea.

...but he wasn't alone. There was a man with him in this tiny space. The details weren't easy to see, but maybe that was a good thing.

"What...who..."

The man walked closer to him. If ever someone had an evil aura...

Tim backed away.

"I want it back."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You have something of mine."

"What is it?" Tim asked.

The man got closer still. His eyes seemed to bore into Tim's and he gave a feral grin.

"Your soul!"

Then, the man started laughing. He seemed to get larger and larger and he reached out to grab Tim.

Tim turned and tried to run.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Okay, McGee. Let's go."

Tim looked around. He was in his car, and Tony was opening the door.

He looked around again, wildly, searching for...

"Hey, Tim. You all right?"

"That... That man... he... he was..."

"What man? There's no one here."

Tim looked around and he was definitely back in his car, but he would have sworn that what had happened was just like before...only he went back to where he had been. This was the first time he'd felt _afraid_.

"You must have fallen asleep while you were waiting for me," Tony said. "Come on. Let's go."

"Okay."

Tim got out, but he kept looking around himself. That man.

"Tim?"

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Tim got in Tony's car and they headed for the hospital.

"Tim, what's going on?"

"I wish I knew," Tim said. "Did you find anything about PFC Johnson?"

"It's like he vanished off the face of the earth, but his friends said he'd started acting a little strange."

"Strange, how?" Tim asked.

"He started worrying about his health, they said, even though he was totally healthy. He was going to DC a lot, even though none of his friends were there. When they asked him about it, he wouldn't tell them."

"Girlfriend?" Tim asked. "Boyfriend?"

"Not so far as they knew. He'd come off a bad relationship just before they put out the last time and he'd said he wasn't going to get into that."

Tim nodded.

"Did you talk to the neurologist?"

"Yeah. She said that he'd asked for a complete scan of his brain, not just a basic thing, but everything that they could do."

"What did it show?"

Tony shook his head. "Don't know. It never happened. She couldn't get him in for what he wanted until this week."

"Oh. The occultist?"

"Mr. Schicksal said that PFC Johnson wanted to ask him about ESP."

"ESP? Really?"

"Yeah, and his friends said that he wasn't the kind of guy who believed in that kind of thing, but Mr. Schicksal swears that was what he wanted to know."

"That's it?"

"That's what he said."

"Hmm..." Tim sighed. "I hate that I can't help...and that the only thing I managed to do was lose all the evidence."

"I'm surprised that Gibbs isn't foaming-at-the-mouth mad at you."

"Me, too. I don't get it, but I guess I shouldn't complain."

Tony laughed. "No, you shouldn't. You seem pretty normal."

"I feel normal."

Except for that man...who was so strange, so frightening.

"Hey, McGee?"

"Coming."

Tim got out of the car and then, belatedly, realized that Tony was walking with him into the hospital.

"Tony, you don't have to come with me."

"Yeah, I do."

"Why is that?"

"To make sure you get there."

Tim looked at him, about to protest, and then, he sighed.

"Yeah, I guess."

"No worries, McGee. They'll figure out what's wrong with you and then, everything will be back to normal."

Tim nodded, but he wondered if that was really the case. He walked to the desk and then was sent back to change into a hospital gown. Tony waited for him.

Tim leaned over to take off his pants.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_It was like a world of bodies, pressing against him. It was like he was getting dragged into the crowd with no escape._

"_Don't let them get to you! Run away! Run!"_

_It wasn't a voice he heard. What was it? He looked around. This was such a strange place._

"_RUN!"_

"_You can't ru_n from me!"

Tim began to totter. He was on the edge of something.

Then, he was falling.

And then, he was in the water.

He started splashing around, panicked.

...and then, he realized he was in a swimming pool. Which swimming pool, he had no idea, but he was indoors.

...and it was dark outside...and inside. Dark. Had he lost the entire day, then?

His heart pumping, Tim paddled over to the side of the pool and dragged himself out onto the edge. He lay on his back, breathing heavily. After a few minutes, he sat up to look at himself.

And he was really embarrassed.

"I'm naked. Where are my clothes?"

Great. This was just great. Hopefully, this place was closed down for the night and they didn't have indoor cameras.

...but surely, someone would have noticed a naked man walking through the streets or out of the hospital.

"Maybe I was dressed and then, took my clothes off? But why?"

Tim had no idea. All he knew was that he needed to find something to put on, just temporarily until he could get home. ...but without his clothes, that meant no wallet, no phone. Awkward.

He pushed that to the side for the moment while he headed for the locker rooms. He found some swim trunks that he rinsed out before putting on. Then, he looked around and discovered that he was in a public aquatic center in Alexandria. Not too far, but still...

"How did I get here? How did I get in?"

The building seemed to be empty, and he couldn't imagine that it would have been really easy to get in here.

He headed for the exit and then, he stopped. He felt like he wasn't alone.

"You're not!"

Hands on his shoulders.

He spun around.

That man.

"What's going on?" Tim asked. "Why are you following me?"

"Your soul is mine!"

"No!"

Tim didn't care if this was a dream. He wasn't letting this man get any closer to him than he had been already.

"You can't get away. You already opened the door. You have no choice but to come in."

"Come in...where?"

"Nowhere."

Tim turned around and started to run, but the doors were locked. He turned around and saw the man walking toward him. He wasn't in a hurry. It was as if he knew Tim couldn't get away from him. Tim turned around and started pounding on the doors. No good.

A fire exit! He'd have to be able to get out of a fire exit. That's what it was there for! He spun around and ran.

"Keep running! You're always running to me! No matter where you go, you'll always end up nowhere!"

Tim shook his head and crashed through the fire exit. The alarm went off, but Tim barely even heard it. He saw that man again ahead of him and he freaked out. He was genuinely terrified, now. Before, it had just been confusing. Now, it was terrifying.

He ran away from him, disoriented, uncertain of what direction he was going.

...until he stepped into the street and faced down a pair of headlights.

Everything seemed to slow down. He couldn't move. He couldn't get out of the path of the oncoming vehicle, but the collision seemed to take forever to occur. As it got closer and closer, he saw the man once again, laughing at him.

"No matter where you go, I'll be there! You're getting closer and closer to me!"

Then, he felt a sharp pain and a large force.

Then, he hit the ground and everything went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"McGee?"

Things hurt.

"McGee, can you hear me?"

A _lot_ of things hurt, actually.

"Tim."

More things hurt than didn't hurt.

Light taps on his face.

"Wake up, Tim."

He struggled to obey. His mouth tasted awful. It was all dry and gummy. His throat was dry and scratchy. That went along very nicely with all the hurt. His tongue felt like it was taking up all the available space in his mouth.

"Tim."

His eyelids fluttered and he managed to lift them.

"Boss?"

"Yeah."

Tim tried to keep his eyes open, but it was too hard. They slipped closed again.

"What...going on?"

"That's what I'd like to ask you."

"Man...in the swimming pool...and...my soul..."

"What?"

"Keep from...and...scared...my soul..."

"Tim, you're not making any sense."

"Lights..."

"Yeah. Headlights."

Tim tried to understand, but it wasn't working.

"Don't...understand..."

"Just relax, McGee. We'll talk later."

Tim slept.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When he woke up again, things weren't quite so confusing, although he was definitely still hurting.

"McGee?"

He opened his eyes and looked over at Gibbs.

"Boss..." He looked around. A hospital. "I got hit by a car."

"Yeah. You want to explain?"

Tim looked at Gibbs again. Gibbs was very solemn.

"You snuck out of the hospital and no one could find you all day. Then, suddenly you're outside an aquatic center in Alexandria and hit by a car. You were lucky we'd been looking since you didn't have any ID on you."

"That's...about it, except for that man."

"What man?"

"I don't know who he was, but..." Tim shuddered. "He was evil. That's the best word for him. Evil. He was coming after me and I ran."

"How did you get to the swimming pool?"

"I don't know. I didn't even have my clothes."

"McGee..."

Tim shook his head and grimaced at the feeling of vertigo.

"I can't tell you, Boss. I don't know."

"McGee, you..." Gibbs stopped and then sighed. "Can you describe this man you saw?"

"Maybe."

"Okay. I'll get Tony and Ellie to come and work on that with you. Tim, this is serious."

"I know," Tim said. "Have you found PFC Johnson?"

"No."

"I hope I wasn't too much of a distraction."

Gibbs didn't answer. He just got up and walked over to the door. He leaned into the hallway and then came back to the bed.

"Boss...how long was I out?"

"About a day."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

The door to his room opened.

"Well, Agent McGee. I'm glad to see you back with us. I'm Dr. Crowley. How are you feeling?"

"Aching."

Dr. Crowley smiled.

"I'm sure you are. You were fortunate, though. You got a nasty concussion, but no broken bones. Luckily, the car that hit you wasn't going very fast."

"That's a matter of opinion," Tim said.

"Now, while you're here, I'd like you to talk to one of my colleagues."

Tim raised an eyebrow.

"A psychiatric colleague?" Tim asked.

Dr. Crowley smiled again. "Yes."

"As long as you're not going to put me in a straightjacket, I guess I don't have any problem with that."

"We don't make much use of straightjackets."

"Yeah."

Tim watched as Gibbs followed Dr. Crowley out of the room and started talking to him.

_I guess I haven't been engaging in sane behaviors. But I don't _feel_ crazy._

He took a breath and let his head fall back against the pillow.

_Maybe, if things start getting bad here, I'll disappear again. I'm a lot better at sneaking around when I have no control over myself..._

The door opened again and another doctor came in.

"You're the shrink?" Tim asked.

"Dr. Lin."

"A shrink."

Dr. Lin nodded.

"Yes. I am a doctor of psychiatry."

"Okay. So...what do you want me to say?"

"I'm not sure, actually. You have a unique situation."

"I do? People have blackouts, don't they?"

"Yes, but blackouts are often associated with heavy drinking or some kind of brain damage or tumor. You have none of that."

"Oh, did I get a brain scan, then?"

"Yes. After the accident, and your brain looks normal."

"Oh."

"Do you have _any_ memories of the time you're missing?"

"No. Nothing. As far as I know, I might as well have disappeared from one place and reappeared somewhere else."

"Do you think that's what you did?"

Tim kept himself from rolling his eyes.

"No. That seems like a complicated explanation. I think it would make more sense if there was some problem in my brain."

"And yet, so far, there's no indication of that."

Tim furrowed his brow. "Are you saying that you think I'm making this up?"

"Are you?"

"No. If I were going to make something up, it'd be a lot more believable than this."

"And what circumstances might lead you to make something up?"

"I can't think of any," Tim said, flatly.

"Really?"

"Look, Dr. Lin, I have a lot more to worry about than this. I lost evidence that could have led us to finding a missing Marine. I lost it during one of these blackouts. My job is important. People's lives depend on it. Even if I _was_ making something up, I would never put someone's life on the line. Never."

"Okay."

Dr. Lin made some notes. Tim watched him without saying anything more.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, Agent McGee."

"Sure."

Dr. Lin walked out to where Gibbs and Dr. Crowley were standing in the hall. He didn't quite get the door latched.

"Well, Dr. Lin?" Dr. Crowley asked.

Tim realized he could hear them talking, and so he strained to listen.

"It's never a good idea to make a diagnosis from the first few minutes, but my preliminary feeling is that he's not crazy. Now, at this point, I could be wrong, but there are none of the hallmarks of insanity or any other psychological disorder. He's being honest about his awareness. Whatever else I can say, I am certain that he's genuinely upset by what's been going on."

"And he doesn't remember anything?" Gibbs asked.

"He doesn't seem to. Obviously, there's something wrong, but it's not something that's going to be simple to figure out."

"What do you want to do?"

"Play it by ear, for now. I'd rather not have him committed at this stage."

"But if he keeps doing this..."

Tim was surprised at how _worried_ Gibbs sounded. This wasn't what he was used to hearing from his boss.

"As a precaution, it would be a good idea to have someone with him. Actually, it would be a good idea for someone to see what happens when he blacks out. Apparently, no one has ever seen this?"

"No."

"Without knowing exactly what happens when he does black out, it's hard to say what's causing it."

"Okay. We'll make arrangements."

Arrangements. Tim didn't like the sound of that. He sighed.

"How much longer do you want him to stay here?"

"As far as his physical health is concerned, as soon as I give him an exam, he'll be released. It would be safer to have someone with him during the next day, just to make sure that his concussion doesn't worsen. He'll be unlikely to be moving around much, given the bruising."

"That could be a good thing," Gibbs said, drily.

Tim couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"All right. We'll go from here, but if you do have any concerns, Agent Gibbs, it won't do your agent any good to hide them."

Gibbs' reply, if there was one, was either too soft for Tim to hear or it was his typical mute response.

No one else came into the room until Tim heard Tony and Ellie coming.

"Hey, McGee," Tony said. "How's it going?"

"I guess I've been better," Tim said.

"How in the world did you get out of the hospital without anyone seeing you?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know. Teleportation?" Tim suggested with a smile.

Ellie laughed. "Right."

"So...Gibbs said that there was someone chasing you last night?"

"Something like that," Tim said.

"Can you describe him, then?" Ellie asked.

"Only a little bit. Maybe enough. Maybe not."

"Okay. Lay it on us, Tim," Tony said.

"He was...not huge," Tim said, trying to think about what he'd seen. "He had big eyes, kind of bug-eyed. I didn't like his eyes." Tim closed his own eyes, thinking back to what he'd seen. "He was a little shorter than I am. He was...gnarled."

"Gnarled?"

"Yeah...I can't think of any other word for it. He wasn't old, but he was...gnarled."

"Hair color? Eye color?"

"No hair. Dark eyes, but it was...dark outside. I didn't really see a lot of detail. No facial hair."

"You know..." Ellie began.

Tony looked at her and then they seemed to be shushing each other.

"Anything else, Tim?"

"What was that, Tony?" Tim asked.

"Nothing."

"Right," Tim mumbled.

"We'll see what we can do with this, Tim. Just stay where you are and don't start running again."

"Yeah."

Tim leaned back and then, suddenly, he remembered what else he'd seen. That other man, asking for help. _That_ was probably a hallucination...and given how he was being treated thus far, if he wanted to stay out of the loony bin, he'd better keep it to himself. He closed his eyes.

He heard them leave...but again, there was a conversation just outside the room.

"Boss, the person he described..."

"What is it, DiNozzo?"

"It sounds like that Schicksal guy we went and talked to, the one that PFC Johnson had contacted. ...and that file in Tim's desk..."

"Do you think that Tim knows more than he's telling us?"

File? What file? Oh, yeah. The one from when he'd appeared near Vance's office. He hadn't looked at it more than to give it a glance and realize that he didn't know where it had come from.

"He claims not to know anything."

"Yeah, but really, Boss...how likely is that?"

"I don't think Tim would _lie_," Ellie said. "He isn't like that...but...this is just _weird_, Gibbs."

Tim started thinking about it. Schicksal? Why would some guy he'd only barely _heard_ of be coming after him, saying that he wanted Tim's soul? Ellie was right. It _was_ weird.

Then, there was another nuclear bomb brightness, right in the room. Tim pressed himself back into the bed, trying to escape that painfully bright light.

_PLEASE!_

_There were hands grabbing at him, pulling him away from that invisible wall._

_KEEP HIM AWAY!_

_All those hands. There were so many of them._

"Tim! Calm down!"

Tim blinked. The blinding light was fading...and there was that figure again, reaching out to him. Tim found himself reaching back...but then, there was someone else there.

"Agent McGee, can you hear me?"

The light vanished and Tim was staring at Dr. Crowley, Dr. Lin, Gibbs, Tony and Ellie.

"Yes, I can hear you," Tim said. "Did something happen? Did I try to leave?"

"No. You were screaming again, Tim," Tony said. He actually sounded worried.

"No, I wasn't."

"Yeah, you were, McGee," Ellie said. "It was pretty freaky. You weren't moving or anything. You just started to scream."

"I didn't."

"You did, McGee," Gibbs said. "What were you seeing?"

Tim decided not to say anything about the man asking for help.

"Light. That's all. A bright light."

Dr. Crowley looked overly concerned, Tim thought. It was just light, not anything else, not purple giraffes or polka-dot elephants or anything like that.

...and a man asking for help...

"I think we need to look at your scan again. That kind of hallucination could be a sign of something serious."

"It's just light."

"And had you screaming for help," Gibbs said.

Tim sighed.

"Do you want him to stay here, Dr. Crowley?" Gibbs asked.

Dr. Crowley considered and then, to Tim's relief, shook his head.

"No. It'll take a couple of days to do the kind of analysis I want, but if you get any other symptoms, you'll need to come back. And I don't want you being alone."

Tim thought it best just to nod. Maybe he could talk the others into giving him some privacy.

"Okay. I'll give you a final examination and then you'll be released."

"Thank you."

"I brought some clothes for you, McGee," Tony said.

"Thanks."

The others left while Dr. Crowley performed the exam.

"Agent McGee, you don't seem nearly as worried about this as I would have thought."

"I'm worried about losing evidence, not my mind."

"Altruism is all well and good, but your own health is important, too."

"Except for the fact that I just got hit by a car, I feel quite healthy."

"And your blackouts?"

"They don't feel like anything to me. I don't even know I've had them. If it weren't for the fact that I'm always somewhere else, I wouldn't know that it had happened at all."

"Ah."

Dr. Crowley finished his exam in silence, and then, left Tim to put on his clothes. He saw Tony and Gibbs standing outside the door and he smiled. Well, if he had another blackout, he wouldn't be likely to get anywhere.

Then, there was that feeling of not being alone. Tim turned around.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_There were hands all over him. Hands trying to drag him away. Away to where? He had no idea. He looked around, but all he could see was the hands._

_Where am I?_

_YOU'RE NOWHERE!_

_It wasn't sound. It was...something else. It seemed to be coming from the hands, but it wasn't sound._

_Then, he heard a voice._

"_You're mine, now!"_

_He turned around. There he was again. That evil man._

_NO!_

_He pulled away from the hands and began to run. He saw no details except for the hands and he just knew that he had to stay away from those hands. Run away. Not to. Away._

_He ran and ran._

_Then, he was falling._

_Falling..._

_...and falling..._

_...and falling..._

Tim hit the ground, breathing heavily. He was staring up at a ceiling. A ceiling.

_I'm indoors._

That had been awful, horrifying...real?

_Where am I now?_

He was almost afraid to move, afraid that he'd see those hands again, that he'd hear that evil voice again.

_Where am I?_

Finally, he got himself to sit up. He ached...so he was still injured. He hadn't noticed that when he had been...wherever he'd been.

He looked around.

"I'm home," he said aloud.

It _was_ his apartment. He _was_ home.

He looked around again. It was dark outside. He'd lost time again...or did it count as lost time if he remembered that nightmare? He began to shake as he remembered those hands and that voice. He was terrified. He was so afraid of that happening again that he almost wanted to cry. He took deep breaths to keep himself from doing that.

Then, he thought that maybe he should call Gibbs since he was supposed to be sticking around and _not_ disappearing and being dragged around by hands.

He crawled to his bed and picked up his phone. He called Gibbs, but it went to voice mail.

"Boss...it's me. It was different this time. There was...this man...this voice. Evil voice and all these hands grabbing at me. I fell and landed in my apartment and...and now, I'm really scared, Boss. I wasn't scared before. I'm scared now. I don't want to go through that again. I want someone to stop this from happening. I don't want to disappear again!" He felt himself freaking out, and he tried to stop and calm down. "I'm home. I'm home and I'm not going anywhere...at least not if I can stay here. I don't want to go. I don't want to go."

He hung up and grabbed his hair in clenched fists.

Then, he tried to breathe calmly, tried to get himself to calm down. He gathered his thoughts enough to pay attention to what he was wearing. The same clothes Tony had brought him.

"At least, I'm wearing clothes this time," he said to himself. He laughed weakly.

This was one of the worst days of his life. Maybe it was _the_ worst. What was happening to him? Was he just going crazy? Couldn't he just have gone crazy and had happy delusions? But he didn't _feel_ like he was going crazy. If he wasn't, what did that mean?

His phone rang. Thinking it was Gibbs, he answered quickly.

"_You got away this time, but you won't every time."_

That voice again.

"_Your soul is mine, and I'll get it."_

"Stay away from me," Tim said.

That cruel laugh again.

"_There's nothing you can do. You opened the door and let me in. You can't change your mind."_

"I never let you in! Never!"

"_Yes, you did. You opened the door."_

Tim hung up and shook his head.

"I didn't!" he said.

...but then, he remembered the first time. Someone had knocked on the door and he had opened it...but that wasn't fair! He hadn't known he was doing anything more than opening his door!

There had been more than opening the door. A key. He could see it in his mind.

...and what _about_ that key? Did he still have it?

He forced himself to get up and walked around to his closet. What pants had he been wearing when he found the key? Where was that key?

Suddenly, it was very important that he find the key. He _had_ to find that key. He didn't know why, but he needed it.

He started looking through his apartment. Where _was_ that key?

There was a knock on the door at some point, but Tim ignored it. He needed to find the key before he disappeared again. He had gone somewhere. It wasn't just a matter of blacking out. He had gone to that place with the hands, with the evil man. Somehow, that man was doing it to him. He didn't know how, but he wasn't interested in letting him do it again...if he could stop it. If he could find that key.

The door opened, and Tim still ignored it.

"Tim?"

He took out all his pants. The key had been in his pocket, but which pants? Too many weird things going on, and he couldn't remember which pants he'd been wearing...but he knew he _had_ been wearing pants the last time he'd seen the key.

"Tim?"

He started feeling the pockets.

"Tim!"

Someone grabbed him and turned him around. He panicked for just a moment and tried to get away.

"Tim, are you hearing me?"

Tim looked at Gibbs and nodded.

"I'm...hearing you, Boss."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but I didn't like it. Not at all."

"Your message didn't make any sense."

Tim smiled a little. "If the message didn't make any sense, then, I'm not going to make any sense because I can't explain it any better than I did. I didn't go anywhere by walking. I disappeared. And it makes me sound crazy, but I can only hope that I am."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Who was it you saw?"

"The same man as before."

"Schicksal?"

"I don't know. I don't know who he is. I don't know why he's after me. I only know that I don't want him to get me."

Tim swallowed and started looking through his pants again.

"What are you doing, Tim?"

"Looking for the key."

"What key?"

"The one I saw the first time I disappeared. It was in my pocket, but I can't remember which pants I was wearing. I need to find it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just do. Since nothing else in my life makes sense right now, I figure that trying to find a key is pretty low on the list of problematic behaviors."

Gibbs smiled and even laughed a little.

"Tim, you've been missing for two days."

Tim shrugged and picked up another pair of pants. "I don't care about that. I just care about not letting that man get me...and those hands. That's all I care about, now."

"Tim."

"No, Boss. No. I'm not going to listen to your platitudes. I'm not going to entertain anything other than finding this key and hoping that it helps somehow."

"Tim, I need you to listen to me."

"No."

"Yes. Because if you can't get a handle on this, finding a key will be the least of your worries."

Tim swallowed an hysterical laugh.

"You think I'm crazy."

"I'm starting to wonder."

"Good. You keep wondering. I'll keep looking."

Tim didn't look at Gibbs again. He just kept searching. Then, he heard a sigh.

"Are you sure that this key is in your pants?"

"No. It seems to be in different places pretty much every time I see it. I'm just starting with the last place I saw it."

"Okay. I'll help you."

Tim stopped and looked at Gibbs. That calm, almost resigned, statement was enough to break through Tim's panic.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

"Even though you think I'm out of my mind?"

"Even though I think you're out of your mind."

"Even though you probably don't believe it even exists?"

"Even then."

Tim swallowed.

"Thanks, Boss."

Tim started searching through his pants again while Gibbs started looking through his drawers. It was silent in the apartment except for the rustling of clothing. Then, Tim was startled by a hand on his shoulder. He looked back.

"Tim, it'll be okay."

"I'm not sure it will, Boss."

Then, Tim heard a clink. He looked on the bed. There was the key.

"There it is!" he said.

He reached out and picked it up.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_You're real?_

_He looked around. No hands, but there was a person._

_Where am I?_

_Nowhere._

_He looked at the person._

_I saw you before? In the light?_

_I was trying to reach out somehow. It worked?_

_I guess so._

_They'll be back soon. We don't have time. The longer you're here, the harder it is to stay yourself._

_Why?_

_I don't know._

"_Having fun?"_

_They both heard the voice. That evil, horrible voice._

_Run. You're not as far in. You can still get away._

_And leave you?_

_I can't get out. I've tried._

_NO. I won't just leave you._

_Then, they were both falling, falling into the hands that reached out and began pulling them into the mass._

_NO! Get away!_

_He fought against the hands. The other man began fighting, too, but then, the hands began to pull against him. He struggled for a moment but then stopped resisting._

_No. I won't leave you behind, he said. _

_He grabbed at the other man and began pulling him backwards as hard as he could, but the hands were after him, too. _

_Finally, he looked beyond the hands and saw masses of... well, he called them people for lack of a better term, but he'd rarely seen anything that was supposed to be human look _less_ human than these did. _

_There was no end to them. They were everywhere..._

_...everywhere except behind. _

_One final tug and the man was freed. His eyes opened, but there was not much awareness left._

_Come on! Come on! You can't stay here._

_We're nowhere, he said. No here. No there. Nowhere._

_NO! NO! You're coming with me. You're not one of them._

_He dragged the man along as the mass of hands came after them. He heard laughter. Evil laughter. He ignored it as much as he could. _

_He ran until he saw something. Something real. Something that was there, not nowhere. He sped up, but then, he ran into a wall. An invisible wall. He could see the world on the other side. In fact, he could see Gibbs on the other side._

_BOSS! BOSS!_

_There was no indication that Gibbs could hear him. Then, Tony and Ellie came into view. They were all looking concerned, but they were all equally unaware that they were being watched by him._

_Nowhere. Nowhere. You'll want to stay with us forever!_

_NO! _

_He shouted as loudly as he could, with no effect._

_Then, the man was there again. He laughed at them. He laughed and laughed._

"_You are in my world now. You belong to me. Your soul is mine."_

_NO!_

"_There's no way in. No way out. You aren't anywhere. You are nowhere."_

_He pushed against that invisible wall. The man...Schicksal, whoever he really was, laughed at him._

"_It takes time, but the more you are loosened from reality, the easier it is to keep you here. You will be part of my army. You will be mine. He is mine already."_

_No, he's not. He is a human being. His soul is his own._

"_Not for much longer!"_

_The man came at them. He grabbed the man from him and began to breathe in. As he did, light began to come out of the man's eyes._

Eyes. The windows to the soul...

_NO!_

_He rushed at Schicksal and pushed him away. He was momentarily surprised that he_ could_ touch Schicksal at all.__ Then, he put his hand over the man's eyes._

_I won't let you take him!_

_Schicksal finally looked angry._

"_Then, perhaps I will take you, first. It will be more difficult, but it can be done. I like a challenge. He was a challenge in the beginning."_

_He grabbed him and began to do the same thing. He felt everything begin to slip away. Light began to dim. Reality began to fade._

_...no...no...no..._

"_Why isn't it working?"_

_Schicksal shook him and then tossed him aside._

_He wanted to fight again, but he felt so weak. He slumped down...and felt something in his hand that he hadn't noticed before._

A key.

He looked at the key and then up at Schicksal. He looked around. The hands were retreating. Reality looked more solid.

"_That is mine! Give it to me!"_ Shicksal said angrily.

He smiled.

"No. I have it, now."

He turned and looked at the wall.

No. It wasn't a real wall.

There was a door.

He grabbed the man and dragged him with him.

Toward the door. It seemed forever away...but he could hear voices. Real voices. They were distant but recognizable.

"Yeah, Boss. I don't know what we're going to find here."

"Gibbs...I don't want to sound skeptical, but..."

"I saw him disappear right in front of me, Bishop."

"Yeah, but..."

"And you said that Schicksal was missing, too?"

"Yes, but... People don't just disappear!"

Then, Schicksal was right in front of him. He leapt at him, knocking him down. The key flew from his grasp.

_He ran towards it, trying to get to it before Schicksal could. Somehow, he knew that, if he didn't, he would never get another chance to escape. He would join the ranks of those who were all around him._

_He got it._

Then, he turned around and ran for the door again...and there was no lock.

Schicksal laughed at him.

"_That key only works in one lock."_

He didn't bother to ask what lock it was. He started pounding on the door.

"_Help me! Boss, please!"_

"_He can't hear you!"_ Schicksal taunted. _"You're in a different world. You're nowhere! Soon, you'll be nothing!"_

He turned around and flattened himself against the invisible wall. The other man was motionless. He was nearly gone, but his eyes were closed now, at least.

He didn't know what to do...but he had to do _something_.

But what?

He was panicked. Schicksal began walking toward him. He was leering and laughing.

"_All your fight has been for nothing."_

The hands came closer again. They were all around the two of them.

"_You are going to do worse than die. Your soul will be mine! Nothing will rule and Nowhere will be all there is!"_

He looked around. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

He looked back at Schicksal.

Then, he saw something.

Schicksal had a lock.

Right in the middle of his chest. Not a necklace. It was actually in his chest.

A lock.

And he had a key that apparently opened only one lock.

What did he have to lose?

He took a breath and launched himself at Schicksal, key in hand. He managed to get the key into the lock. Schicksal suddenly realized what he was doing.

Schicksal tried to stop him, but he managed to turn the key.

Tim turned the key all the way.

And something opened.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was like an explosion only backwards. ...but it wasn't an implosion. It made no sense, and he was certain it was going to kill him.

...but better that than to have his soul stolen by Schicksal.

There was a force washing over him, pouring out from Schicksal's chest. He was screaming and the energy was pushing him back toward the hands. But all the masses of people appeared to be in agony like Schicksal was.

He looked around and saw the man who had been with him. He dropped to the ground and crawled over to him.

"Don't give up, now!" he shouted.

He grabbed the man by the arm and started to drag him back toward that wall. He felt as though his own energy was being sapped by the energy still pouring out of Schicksal. His scream had become a wind that was whipping through Nowhere, threatening to drag them into Nothing and Nowhere.

"NO! I won't stay here!" he shouted.

If the door didn't have a lock but wouldn't open, he'd make his own opening. He rammed into the wall.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

"_YOU'RE MINE!"_ Schicksal screamed.

"NO!" he screamed back.

He threw himself against the wall separating him from reality and it seemed to shatter.

He fell through it.

Falling...

_The hands were fading into nothing..._

...and falling...

_Schicksal seemed to disintegrate..._

...and falling...

_He thought he heard a different, distant laugh, a feminine laugh..._

Tim landed on the floor.

Hard.

It hurt.

He groaned and closed his eyes.

"Where...am I?"

Tim heard the voice. It hadn't been him speaking.

"Tim?"

Tim didn't want to move.

"Tim!"

There were hands on his arms, another on his forehead. Somehow, he knew these were good hands. Real hands.

"Timothy, can you hear me?"

Tim didn't want to answer. He could hear, but that was passive. It didn't require movement. He was tired. He was exhausted. He ached from head to toe. There wasn't anything that made him want to acknowledge the questions being asked.

"He's breathing, Jethro. His pulse is racing. He may be in shock. What about–?"

"Alive, but not responding at all."

"I think Timothy is conscious. He's too tense to be otherwise."

"Where did they _come_ from? They weren't here...and then, they were."

"I couldn't say, Eleanor."

"They just...appeared. We heard them hit the floor. They didn't come in through the door or windows. They just...were here."

"Nowhere," Tim whispered. "Nowhere."

"Timothy?"

"Don't want to be nowhere."

"Tim, you're not. You're home. Open your eyes."

"All those hands..."

"They're not here now."

Then, there was a familiar tap on the back of his head. It was fairly gentle, but it was familiar.

Tim opened his eyes. Gibbs was leaning over him.

"Tim, are you all right?"

Tim shook his head.

"You want to explain what happened?"

Tim shook his head again.

"You aware that you found PFC Johnson?"

One more head shake.

"That's who he was?" Tim asked.

"Yeah."

"I didn't recognize him...just a man...nowhere..."

"He was there with you?"

Tim nodded.

"You feel like sitting up?"

He shook his head.

Then, Tim felt himself being lifted gently. He was upright and able to look around. Tony and Ellie were with another man. He wasn't moving. Ducky and Gibbs were with him.

"I'm somewhere," he said softly.

"You're home, Timothy."

Tim nodded.

"He was nowhere."

"Who?"

"Schicksal. He...said he was...going to take my soul. He said he'd done it before. He was...breathing it in. There was a lock in his chest. I opened it. Everything came pouring out." Tim closed his eyes. "I don't understand."

"I'm afraid I don't, either, Timothy. This is far beyond what I can explain."

Tim smiled a little. "Do you at least believe that...that it happened?"

"Yeah, McGee. We believe that," Gibbs said. "I saw you disappear."

"And you came back out of nowhere," Tony added.

"Yeah...I did. That's where I was. Nowhere."

"Do you know what's wrong with PFC Johnson?" Ellie asked, hesitantly. "He's still not responding."

"He was there longer. He said he was losing himself. All those hands dragging at him."

"Hands?"

"Yeah. Hands."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It wasn't."

"All right. Timothy, your body is extremely run down. You haven't had the time to recover from your accident, and whatever your experience was this time, it didn't help. I'd like to have your doctor to check you out. PFC Johnson needs to be taken to the hospital as well, although I don't know what treatment he needs."

"I don't, either."

"Then, we'll just have to do what we can."

Tim let them lift him up and nearly carry him to a car. He barely paid attention to anything else other than the fact that he was back in reality. He never wanted to leave it again. Ever.

"Tim?" Gibbs asked.

Tim tried to re-engage with the world around him. "Yeah?"

"You still have that key?"

Tim realized that he was clenching his fist, that he hadn't unclenched it the entire time he'd been back. He slowly opened his fingers. There was nothing.

"No. I used it there."

"Did it help?"

"I think so. It was the key to him...the key to nowhere. He didn't know I had it."

"How did you get it the first time?"

"I don't know. It was just there and I picked it up. He didn't want me to have it."

"So it didn't come from him?"

"I guess not."

Tim hadn't thought about that before. Why did he have it if Schicksal hadn't wanted him to? Where had the key come from? Who had given it to him? Maybe, this would be another thing he'd never know.

"For now, just relax. Sleep. You look like you need it."

Tim nodded vaguely.

"And someone will be here with you."

"I don't want to disappear again," Tim said.

"You won't."

"Okay." Tim closed his eyes.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_He swooped down over Tim, his arms becoming large, leathery wings._

"_You'll never get away from me!"_

_Another presence, darker, more evil than that hovered behind. Evil black eyes staring at him, hands reaching out to..._

Tim woke up with a shout.

"No!"

He was breathing heavily. Awake. In reality.

A dream.

A nightmare.

Not real.

He let out his breath in a whoosh.

"Tim? You all right?"

Tim looked over at Gibbs. He was sitting right beside him.

"Yeah. Just a...a dream," he said, shakily.

"You going to sleep again?"

"Maybe."

Tim smiled a little and Gibbs smiled back.

"You're not alone in it this time."

"Thanks, Boss."

Tim leaned back and, after a few minutes, he fell asleep again.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"..._a piece in a much larger game."_

_Tim looked around. He was in a wide open field. Things were fuzzy, but they were...sort of real. _

"_What? Who's talking?"_

_A figure came into view. She wasn't in focus. He couldn't determine any details._

"_It is a never-ending fight between chaos and order, somewhere and nowhere, being and not being. Sometimes, it spills over into the mortal world. Sometimes, it doesn't. When it does, we choose pieces. Schicksal was a piece, a valuable piece that I am glad is lost. Caleb Johnson was a piece. You were a piece. You also turned out to be valuable. I was not sure you would be."_

"_I'm a human being, not a game piece."_

"_Yes, you are. Both."_

"_The key?"_

"_You had to have a chance to fight back if it got that far. Schicksal was an effective piece. He had gathered a lot of power. You upset that. And I am grateful."_

"_Will that happen to me again?"_

"_Unlikely. You have shown your strength, but I do not focus only on one."_

"_What about PFC Johnson?"_

"_What about him?"_

"_He deserves to recover! He didn't want to be part of this, either! Can't you keep your little arguments to yourselves?"_

_She didn't answer his question. She spun around in circles and he felt a gentle wind waft across him, leaving him feeling calm and relaxed. Then, she stopped._

"_He will wake up."_

"_Thank you. Is this a dream?"_

"_It doesn't matter if it is or not. We will fight again. If you value your existence, you had better hope that I win."_

"_Why?"_

"_You saw him already. You know the answer. __Because he is worse."_

_Then, she lifted her hand and blew something into Tim's face. He jerked backwards._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He woke up with a start.

There was a hand on his arm.

"Another dream?"

Tim looked over at Gibbs.

"I guess so. I'm feeling pretty awake now, Boss."

Gibbs looked at his watch.

"Pretty close to six. No reason to sleep if you don't want to."

"I don't."

"All right. I'm sorry we didn't believe you before, McGee."

"No reason you should have."

"We were making arrangements to have you committed."

Tim grimaced. "I guess I can't blame you. That's why you came over?"

"Yeah. I was going to talk to you. Tony and Ellie were waiting outside in case you started running."

"Well...I'm glad that you're not, now." Then, a horrible thought struck him. "You're not, are you?"

Gibbs laughed. "Only if we're going to commit all of us, together. Hopefully, PFC Johnson comes out of it. One more to support what you said."

"I think he will," Tim said, remembering his dream. "I think he'll be fine."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"You know something you're not telling me?"

Tim smiled.

"I'm not telling you anything I don't know."

The eyebrow went up further.

"I just think that he'll be okay," Tim said, quickly.

"I'll go check on him...if that's all right, but Tony is just outside."

Tim nodded.

Gibbs got up and walked to the door.

"You're okay?" he asked.

Tim nodded again. "I'm okay."

"Good."

Gibbs left.

Tim looked at the table by the bed. As he stared at it, an ornate, golden key appeared. It wasn't the same key as he'd seen before. It was different. His eyes widened and he looked around.

Then, he thought he heard a voice.

_Just in case._

He reached out and picked up the key.

What lock would this key open?

He hoped he never knew.

FINIS!


End file.
